09/11/2015

chapter five ;

♡

by quickly and without a dull moment. Nearly every single day, it seemed, the Rodriguez family had something planned. The Sullivan family was always invited. Also, Jordan Phillips had not yet given up on making amends with the Sandlot Boys – not that he had made much progress.

The third Friday of the school year rolled around, and I had begun to feel quite confident. Finally, I could easily find my way around the school – I knew where all of my classes were, and I never got lost.

On another note, I had only managed to make a few enemies, and those consisted of Hannah and her group of preps. However, far from my knowledge, some girls held grudges against me. Some disliked me for reasons I could guess.

History, fourth period, was the only class I shared solely with DeNunez. The teacher was a younger woman, with curled, chocolate hair and a pretty smile – Ms. Cook. For the most part, she was cool and nice, but she had no tolerance for disrespect. Needless to say, she was one of my favorite teachers.

At the moment, we were playing a game based on World War I. Everyone was split up into groups, in which they were given a country. Basically, we all had to form alliances with and declare war upon other countries, and the leftover money, supplies and armies that were built all mattered in the end. The two sides would be compared at the end, during the "war", and the winners would get candy.

Highlight of my day, honestly.

Needless to say, DeNunez and I stuck by each other's side throughout the entire class. Our group had been given France.

"If we buy three of these and six of those, we'll be good," the boy who kept the cards organized said. "But we could go higher, get more of these – "

DeNunez elbowed me lightly, and I tore my attention away from the boy whose name I had not bothered to remember. I cast my best friend a questioning look.

"That girl over there," DeNunez mumbled, slightly jerking his head to his left, "she keeps staring at you and laughing. Don't look now – "

But he was too late. My eyes had already focused on the girl (Germany was her country). Initially, I had expected to find a preppy girl – Hannah, considering she shared the class with me. Instead, the girl, who stared back at me with a smirk, had a septum piercing and wore dark makeup. By the grungy look and the blue bandana tied around her shoe (a sign of disrespect to crips), I assumed that she was far from preppy. In fact, she looked like a tough girl.

Even still, I held the gaze for a few more moments. Before returning my attention back to the game, I flashed her a smile and a wave.

DeNunez cracked up. "Oh, God, Kayla. I told you not to look."

"Maybe you should have told me not to look before I looked," I giggled.

"You would have looked anyway."

"True . . ." A moment later, I decided to put forth my piece. "Hey, man . . . Use half the money to buy a little bit of everything. You'll end up with more money if you get more of those one things . . ."

The boy, slightly on the nerdy side, managed a nervous smile. "Good idea, Makayla, I'll do that."

DeNunez chuckled, grabbing hold of my arm. "His cheeks are so red," he snickered quietly. "You have no idea, the effect you can have."

"I take it you've finally listened to me and read The Hunger Games?" I smirked.

"I just started Catching Fire last night," DeNunez grinned. "Honestly, I didn't know reading could be so fun. You were right – I just have to find the right book."

I winked. "Next, you're reading Harry Potter – don't fight me on this, DeNunez."

Suddenly, a new voice rang out . . . right behind me. "Makayla, is it?"

Upon turning around, I found the grungy-looking girl smirking down at me. "Can I help you?" I smiled – although partly unintentionally, the smile cast a smartass vibe from me.

"Yeah, I think you can," the girl said. "First of all, you can lose the fucking attitude."

Although my heartbeat sped, I kept a cool demeanor. "Nah – I don't think I can. Sorry 'bout it. And second of all?"

Thanks to the high amount of chatter in the classroom, students speaking amongst each other, the sudden silence of my group went unnoticed. Everyone who made up my group stared at me and the girl in anticipation and surprise. DeNunez, who hadn't let go of my arm, tightened his grip, but said nothing.

The girl smiled, tongue pressed against her top set of teeth. "Fucking smartass."

"Thank you, I try," I responded with an appreciative smile, mock kindness in my eyes. "I do."

Snickers erupted from the group. The teacher, who had been paying no attention to us, said, "I'm gonna step outside of the class for a minute. Everyone be good!"

"But if that's all . . . Unless you're here to form an alliance or make a trade, I'm not interested. If not, you can go away now."

The classroom door could be heard shutting, and the girl said, "Bitch, I don't know who the fuck you think you're talking to, but that smart ass fucking mouth is about to get you hit."

For half a second, I debated three options: stand up, stand up and hit her, or stay seated and wait for her to make the first move. I settled on the latter.

With an amused smile, I turned my head. Benny didn't want me to fight, and I wanted to respect his wishes.

"Like I said," I replied, "if you're not here to make an alliance or trade, I'm not interested."

"Why? Too fucking pussy?"

I glanced at DeNunez, whose eyes were wide and mouth was parted. Similar to our pitcher-batter relationship on the field, we could communicate with our eyes. Now, I was silently asking his opinion.

Unlike Benny, DeNunez didn't mind if I had to fight to defend myself. The trouble was worth it – nobody would talk down to me. And he could explain everything to Benny, because I knew I wouldn't be seeing him after this class, because the look DeNunez gave me clearly said, Beat her ass.

A smile curving the edges of my lips, I stood, knocking my chair back. Turning to stand up to the girl, I realized that she was at least three inches taller than me, but with the same body size as me.

"I'm not scared of anyone," I said, feeling my heart speed to fifty miles an hour – adrenaline had begun to rush through my veins. "Just smart enough to know when a girl isn't worth my time."

"I'm sure," she laughed, stepping closer to me so that her chest pushed me back slightly. "Really, you're too much of a fucking chicken shit to do anything."

In the background, I noticed that the classroom had gone almost entirely silent. Several voices laughed and whispered. One girl yelled, "Get her, Nic!"

"Yeah, I heard about you," Nic continued with a chuckle. "You're all fuckin' talk. You act like you're some kind of badass, but really, you ain't shit, bitch – "

For a moment, my vision blackened, and I hadn't put an ounce of thought into my next action – my clenched fist slammed into Nic's jaw. Everyone was taken aback, gasps and jaw-drops and whistles, especially Nic – the blow had stunned her.

I shouldn't have stopped there. I shouldn't have given her the chance to strike back. I should have taken her to the ground, right then and there, and spat in her face.

Fortunately, Nic's retaliation did not include hair-pulling. She had a hard hit, I could give her that, when her fist connected with my mouth. But I took no hesitation in throwing several more punches.

In a whirl of fists and blood, the two of us wrestled each other to the floor. At first, Nic found her way on top of me, where she attempted to wail on my face. While blocking her fists, I threw my legs up with great force, so that I seemed to be sitting with my legs crossed, except I was on my back and my legs were pressed against Nic's stomach. With one jerk of my legs, Nic was forced backward, back and head slamming into the hard, tile floor – this earned yells of triumph and surprise.

A second later, I had scrambled to my knees. Before Nic could manage to regain her balance, I got on top of her – my legs pinned her own down, and one of my hands gripped onto her arm. Without much of a source of protection, I struck Nic in the face, each blow with great force, a few times.

"Hey!" Ms. Cook's voice shrieked.

The next second, a pair of strong arms looped around my waist. I was lifted into the air effortlessly, but my attention was focused on Nic. She had long since given up, lying on her back, arms now covering her eyes. Deep red blood was smeared all over her face – an image I would later feel horrible about, thanks to my merciful side. However, at the moment, my adrenaline had taken over.

A wild grin was plastered to my face – I could feel a warm liquid trickle from my nose. My tongue ran over a split in my lip, and I tasted the metallic substance.

"Am I all talk now? How's that for badass?" I grinned, my eyes flickering upward. In moments, I found my target – a horrified Hannah. My bloody finger pointed directly at her. "Take notes."

"Let's go," Ms. Cook demanded, her eyes flickering between me and Nic.

"I know," I said, glancing down at the dark-skinned arms still enclosed around my waist. "I'm good, DeNunez. Promise."

With slight reluctance, DeNunez let his arms fall away. I turned to face him, hardly able to hold back a smile.

"Could you hand me my backpack?" I asked in a calm and kind manner.

Just as DeNunez went to grab my stuff, the slightly nerdy boy, who had blushed upon my speaking to him, rushed forward with a handful of tissues. His eyes were wide with fear and something of admiration.

"Thanks, man," I said, taking the tissues.

"No problem, Makayla . . ."

"What's your name again?"

"Uh – Um, it's Henry."

With a smirk, I nodded his way. "Don't forget to use half the money on supplies."

With that, I took my leather backpack from DeNunez, threw it over my shoulder, and turned to face Ms. Cook.

"I'm gonna go to the office now, okay?"

Ms. Cook glanced at me from her position, kneeling at Nic's side – the girl refused to uncover her face or even move from the ground. To my immense surprise . . . Ms. Cook could hardly hold back a smile. Nic was one of the rude students Ms. Cook couldn't stand.

"Straight to the office. Kenny, would you please escort her?"

"Yes, ma'am," DeNunez responded.

As DeNunez and I made our way to the door, ignoring the loud chatter and grouped students, I spat blood into the napkins before throwing them into the trashcan.

The moment the door closed behind me and DeNunez, we both burst into a fit of laughter.

"Kayla, you are fucking crazy," DeNunez laughed. "You got me all hype now. Look at you!"

I reached for my phone, which had been in my back pocket, but my blood ran cold to find that it was not there. "Um, my phone – "

"Oh, I got it," DeNunez said, pulling a phone out of his jacket pocket. "The second you threw the first punch, I took it from your pocket – didn't want it getting broken or anything, unlike Nickie's nose."

"Nickie," I snickered. "You really think I broke her nose?"

"Did you not hear the crack?" DeNunez nearly shrieked. "One of the punches when you had her on the floor – everyone heard it."

"Kind of like the crack of a bat and a baseball," I chuckled. "Okay, maybe not – but kind of. Damn, look at my knuckles."

Before I could even glance at the black screen of my phone, which was now in my hand, I noticed the bloody cuts on my knuckles – bruises were already darkening.

"Look at your face!"

Moments later, I pulled up my camera. As the two of us continued down the hall, I studied my face. I was surprised to find that Nickie had done some damage. Aside from my split lip and busted nose, my left cheekbone had begun to swell.

"That's gonna be a black eye," I mused. Then my lips curled into a smirk. "Girl can hit, I'll give her that."

"I can't believe you don't seem mad at all."

I shrugged. "I'm willing to bet everything Hannah put her up to it. The way she looked so horrified – she didn't expect me to win. And when has that girl ever seemed to have a problem with me?"

"I don't know, but she was talking mad shit," DeNunez said. "Had me all hype, like she was talking to me or something."

Two minutes later, DeNunez and I reached the double doors of the front office. DeNunez, after quickly taking a picture of me with his phone, said his goodbyes and good lucks and left me alone.

Blood dribbled down my chin and stained my shirt, but I walked into the office without hesitance. The lady at the desk took one look at me and rolled her eyes.

"Makayla Sullivan?" The lady had a monotonous, bored voice.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Fighting is against school rules," she explained, although judging by her face, she could not care less about the situation. "Save the details, I don't care if she started it. Automatic suspension for a week. Take this form – explains everything. Call someone to pick you up."

With the amount of care the lady had given, I was able to simply take the paper and walk out. Once outside, I took out my phone. Whose number could I dial? My parents were at work – Elizabeth and Luke were still in school.

Suddenly, a name popped into my mind, and my heart skipped a beat – Lynn. Somehow, I felt that I would be more ashamed around her.

I stood at the front doors for about five minutes, staring at the screen of my phone, debating my options. Lynn picking me up would be much quicker, but I didn't want her to see me this way. Also, she had thrown up that morning, and I didn't want to bother her.

Eventually, I decided upon walking home. Although a ride only amounted to five minutes, walking took up over fifteen minutes.

The adrenaline rush had brought a new joyful sensation to me. Fighting, for some odd reason, was fun to me. I honestly felt like a badass, especially with the blood and bruises on my face and knuckles. And while no one was around to scold me . . .

Upstairs, in my parents' bedroom, I stole a couple cigarettes from one of my mother's many packs. I chuckled to myself as I made my way into my bedroom, lighting the cigarette between my teeth.

The smoke burned my lungs, caused my muscles to relax and a dizzy sensation to fulfill me. Meanwhile, I tore off my T-shirt and rid my skin of blood with a damp rag.

For the moment, I felt like my old self – at twelve-years-old, I had hit my crazy stage, in which I smoked cigarettes and cursed in nearly every sentence. Then, I thought I was "cool." Much like then, I felt a bit full of myself. Finally, a real fight. I wouldn't keep up the smoking – it just heightened my high. Soon, I would calm down and get over all of it.

After changing into a clean shirt, I went to my backyard. Without a fence, I had a perfect view of all of my neighboring houses, from my sides and from opposite streets. I sat on the edge of the porch, savoring the first cigarette and scrolling through my social media newsfeed.

"Oh, shit," I mumbled to myself. "It's nine-eleven."

♡

Before Luke could even come to a halt in the driveway, Benny opened his door and jumped out. I watched from the window, and suddenly, my cockiness disappeared – Benny would be angry. Quickly and quietly, I darted for the staircase.

Once in my bedroom, I locked the door behind me and literally galloped into my personal bathroom. I felt like Dash from The Incredibles as I hastened to brush my teeth, so as to erase the taste of cigarettes, which I had come to regret – I remembered just how much I hated the cancer sticks.

A knock sounded at my door just as I filled my mouth with water. I spat the water into the sink, then yelled, "Just a minute!"

I rinsed my mouth with one more mouthful of water, then hastened to get the door. Although cautiously, I wrenched my bedroom door open, revealing Benny.

"She came up to me – " I immediately began, but Benny cut me off.

"Hey, hey, hey." Benny, whose frown was trained on the cuts and bruises on my face, touched my waist. "I'm not mad, babe. I heard about it all from DeNunez. Just to make sure, though . . . are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered, exhaling the deep breath I had sucked in involuntarily. "I think you should be asking that other girl."

Benny didn't seem to be paying much attention. He brushed a gentle finger over my bruised cheek, and I winced slightly.

"Let me see your hands. . . . Jesus, Kayla, did you not clean the cuts?"

In response, I flashed him a smile, which also caused me to wince – the split in my lip seemed to rip open a bit more. "Ow, shit."

"Go to the bathroom," Benny sighed. "Luke and Liz will be up here to – "

"Kayla!" Luke shouted from what sounded like the front door. His loud footsteps could be heard, mingled with Elizabeth's light laughter. He was running. "Kayla, you're a fucking badass! I taught you everything you know!"

♡

The dark-haired, hazel-eyed boy stood between my legs, dabbing at the cut on my lip with a cotton ball, in deep concentration. I sat on my sink counter, palms pressed against the cool, hard surface. But all I could focus on was how cute Benny was, with his eyebrows furrowed in focus, his lips lightly pursed together.

Memories flooded back to me – for some reason, Benny had always been extremely concerned for my cuts and bruises. Any time my knuckles would be messed up, he thought of nothing but that when it came to me. I was reminded of the day he had forbidden me to play baseball at the sandlot, in fear that I would hurt my broken knuckles; at the end of the day, I managed one chance at bat – and I busted the guts out of the baseball.

"You know, when we go back to the sandlot, you can't stop me from playing this time," I pointed out.

For the first time, Benny smiled. He straightened his posture, taking a break from cleaning my wounds.

"Yeah," Benny sighed, dropping the cotton ball into the trashcan, "I know. But you'll have to limit yourself. Your knuckles . . . I don't know how much more they can take."

I laughed, shaking my head. "They always pull through. . . . So, you're not mad?"

"No." As he spoke, Benny began to unwrap small band-aids and stick them to my knuckles. "DeNunez told me how it all went down. She came to you out of nowhere, calling you out of your name . . . She provoked you, and it's all on her."

"Hmph," I smiled in triumph. "So, next time Hannah tries to – "

"No more," Benny broke in, his eyes flickering to meet mine. He then placed both of his hands on my cheeks, although being careful with the left side. "You're already suspended for a week. I don't like doing this school thing without you."

"But if she goes too far, like the Nickie girl did . . . ?"

After a moment, Benny gave in. "Then you beat her ass too." A smile broke out on his face. "I'm gonna admit, though . . . you look sexy as hell. My girlfriend, the badass."

Benny went in for a kiss, but when his lips smashed into mine, I jerked away. "Easy with the lip."

"Oh, sorry."